Mimic pollination in ornamental plants

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma. Mimicry in plants is where a plant organism evolves to resemble another organism physically or chemically, increasing the mimic''s Darwinian fitness. Mimicry in plants has been studied far less than mimicry in animals, with fewer documented cases and peer-reviewed studies. It may provide protection against herbivory, or may deceptively encourage mutualists, like pollinators, to provide a service without offering a reward in return. Pollination is a very important part of the life cycle of plants. Insects, birds, bats and the wind take pollen between flowering plants, which means the plants can make seeds and reproduce. Its significance is to carry the pollen grains to the stigma for the process of fertilisation.

Review Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.804.343

Mimic Pollination in Ornamental Plants

A Sankari*, P Loganayki and M Anand

1 HC&RI, TNAU, India 2

Depatment of Floriculture and Landscaping, TNAU, India

3 HRS, Yercaud, India

*Corresponding author

A B S T R A C T

Introduction

Mimicry in plants

Mimicry in plants is where a plant organism

evolves to resemble another organism

physically or chemically, increasing the

mimic's Darwinian fitness Mimicry in plants

has been studied far less than mimicry in

animals, with fewer documented cases and

peer-reviewed studies It may provide

protection against herbivory, or may

deceptively encourage mutualists, like

pollinators, to provide a service without offering a reward in return (1,2,3)

Advantages of mimicry plants

It attracts the pollinators Escape the predation from herbivores

It maintains the diversity

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma Mimicry in plants is where a plant organism evolves to resemble another organism physically or chemically, increasing the mimic's Darwinian fitness Mimicry in plants has been studied far less than mimicry in animals, with fewer documented cases and peer-reviewed studies It may provide protection against herbivory, or may deceptively encourage mutualists, like pollinators, to provide a service without offering

a reward in return Pollination is a very important part of the life cycle of plants Insects, birds, bats and the wind take pollen between flowering plants, which means the plants can make seeds and reproduce Its significance is to carry the pollen grains to the stigma for the process of fertilisation

K e y w o r d s

Mimic pollination,

Ornamental plants,

Butterfly,

Bird

Accepted:

20 March 2019

Available Online:

10 April 2019

Article Info

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 04 (2019)

Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

Mimic plants will maintain the descendents

characters

Pseudocopulation increase pollination

capacity

Mimic in plants is a vivid demonstration of

natural selection as a guiding force in

evolutionary change (4-6)

Uses of mimicry

Mutualism

1 Friendly mutualism

Here help each other, both benefit and no one

is harmed No free lunch, but benefits higher

than costs

One benefits, another is harmed

3 Commensalism

One benefits, another is unaffected

Pollination systems

1 Attracting pollinators: visual cues

A “Bull’s eye” color

pattern(background

of green foliage)

black-eyed susan

A reversed bull’s

eye

Hemerocallis

Human & butterfly Gaillardia,

painted daisy

flowers

2 Attracting pollinators: olfactory cues

Butterfly, Bird

more visual in behaviour and not very olfactory

fragrances

musky scents

3 Attracting pollinators: shape

Beetle easy, open entrance,

structural foods Hovering

pollinators

generally hang down and have a long nectar tube

Non-hovering insects and birds

need perches or landing platforms as part of the flower

female

Drakea spp

Pollination syndrome

Cantharophily Beetle

pollination

I atropurpurea

Myophily Fly

pollination

Skunk cabbage lady-slipper orchid

(Cypripedium

spp)Alcohol produce

Phalaenophily Moth

pollination

Gymnadenia conopsea (Fragrant

Orchid) Pollinated

by Hummingbird

Hawkmoth

Psychophily Butter

pollination

Gaillardia(painted

daisy)

Melittophily Bees

pollination

Morning dew, Mectan sunflower

Obligate pollination

figs-fig wasps yuccas-yucca moths

(Tegeticula)

Herbivory

1 Venus’s fly trap

The two-lobbed trap: 3 trigger hairs on the

inner face of each lobe, fringed with teeth-like

projections When one trigger hair is touched

twice or when two are touched in succession,

the trap closes The teeth-like projections

interlock, trapping the unsuspecting victim

inside The struggling victim stimulates the

secretion of digestive juices The trap reopens

in about 10 days (7)

2 Sundew

More than 100 species of sundews (Drosera)

Leaves are covered with tiny (usually red)

hairs, which exude a clear, sticky fluid

(dewdrops).The sticky droplets attract and

trap insects The struggling insect stimulates

the hairs to bend inward towards the centre of

the leaf, to wrap it in a neat, tight package

3 Butterwort

Leaves with a very sticky surface Greasy to

the touch, but deadly to any small insect that

may land on or try to cross one of the leaves

4 Pitcher plants

Leaves or leave parts modified into

pitcher-like structures Pitchers contain plant juice

that smells like sweet nectar and attracts

insects Pitchers are topped with a hood or lid

When insect try to drink from the pitcher, it

loses its footing on the smooth interior, slides

to the bottom, lands in a pool of liquid, which

digests the victim

Types of mimicry in plants

1 Bakerian

2 Dodsonian

3 Vavilovian

4 Pouyannian

5 Batesian

6 Cryptic

1 Bakerian

Bakerian mimicry, named after English naturalist Herbet Baker, is a form of

automimicry or intraspecific mimicry that

occurs within a single species In plants, the female flowers, mimic male flowers of their own species, cheating pollinators out of a reward This reproductive mimicry may not

be readily apparent as members of the same species may still exhibit some degree of sexual dimorphism, i.e the phenotypic difference between males and females of the

same species

Examples

It is common in many species of Caricaceae, a family of flowering plants in the family of Brassicaceae, found primarily in tropical regions of Central and South America, and Africa

2 Dodsonian

Dodsonian mimicry, named after American botanist, orchidologist, and taxonomist, Calaway H Dodson, is a form of reproductive floral mimicry, but the model belongs to a different species than the mimic By providing similar sensory signals as the model flower, it can lure its pollinators Like

Bakerian mimics, no nectar is provided

Examples

crop

Pollinators

ibaguense

Lantana camara and Asclepias curassavica

Humming

Monarch butterfly

beetle

Epidendrum ibaguense a species of epiphytic

orchid of the genus Epidendrum that occurs

in Trinidad, French, Venezuela, Colombia,

and Northern Brazil, resembles flowers of

Lantana camera and Asclepias curassavica

(commonly called Mexican butterfly weed,

blood-flower, scarlet milkweed, or tropical

milkweed), both are species of flowering

plant with the first in the Verbena family,

while the latter belongs to the milkweed

family, and both are native to the American

tropics Epidendrum ibaguense is pollinated

by Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and

perhaps humming birds Similar cases are

seen in some other species of the same family

The mimetic species may still have

pollinators of its own though, for example a

Lamellicorn beetle, which usually pollinates

correspondingly coloured Cistus spp flowers,

is also known to aid in pollination of Ophrys

spp that are normally pollinated by bees (8)

3 Vavilovian

Vavilovian mimicry named after Russian

plant geneticist who identified the centres of

origin of cultivated plants, Nikolai Vavilov is

a form of mimicry in plants where a weed

comes to share one or more characteristics

with a domesticated through generations of

artificial selection It is also known as crop

mimicry or weed mimicry Selection against

the weed may occur by killing a young or

adult weed, separating its seeds from those of

the crop (winnowing), or both This has been

done manually since Neolithic times, and in

more recent years by agricultural machinery

Examples

Erigeron Canadensis (weed species) have

same similar character inflorence a cultivated

species of Amaranthus palmeri

Annual bluegrass is mowing tolerance

capacity and used as Gulf course in foreign

countries It is suitable for temperate region

Creeping bent grass also express the same characters of Annual blue grass which is normally used as gulf course in now-a-days

4 Pouyannian

Many plants have evolved to appear like other organisms, most commonly insects This can have wide-ranging benefits including increasing pollination The flowers mimic a potential female mate visually, but the key

stimuli are often chemical and tactile

Examples

The hammer orchid (Drakaea spp.) an

endangered genus of orchid that is native to Australia is one of the most notable examples The orchid has both visual and olfactory mimics of a female wasp to lure males to both deposit and pick up pollen

The orchid Epipactis helleborine is physiologically and morphologically adapted

to attract social wasps as their primary pollinators Social wasps feed their larvae on insects like caterpillars To locate that prey, they use a combination of visual and olfactory

cues The flowers of E.helleborine and E

purpurata emit green-leaf volatiles (GLVs),

which are attractive to foragers of the social

wasps Vespula germanica and V.vulgaris Several E helleborine GLVs that induced a

response in the antennae of wasps were also emitted by cabbage leaves infested with

caterpillars (Pieris brassicae), which are

common prey items for wasps Despite a large nectar reward, the species is almost entirely overlooked by other pollinators

Carrion flowers mimic the scent and appearance of rotting flesh to attract necrophagous (carrion-feeding) insects like flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), blowflies (Calliphoridae), house flies (Muscidae) and some beetles (e.g., Dermestidae and

Silphidae) which search for dead animals to

use as brood sites The decaying smell of the

flower comes from oligosulfides, decayed

proteins that contain amino acids methionine

and cysteine While carrion flowers do

produce a small amount of nectar, this does

not necessarily make its relationship to

necrophagous insects mutualistic Insects lay

eggs on the carrion flowers, meaning they

mistake them for oviposition sites The nectar

acts as a lure to bring the insects closer to the

reproductive parts of the flower

5 Batesian

Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry,

named after the English naturalist Henry

Walter Bates, where a harmless species has

evolved to imitate the warning signals of a

harmful species directed at a predator

Examples

Thorn mimicry of two types has been

observed in plants The first, a special case of

intra-oranismic Batesian mimicry

characteristic of Aloe spp (Liliaceae), W

filifera (Palmaceae), and dozens of species of

Agave, including A applanta, A salmiana,

and A obscura These plants develop

thorn-like imprints or colorations on the face of

their leaves due to the teeth along the margins

of that leaf (or another leaf) pressing

sustained indentations into the flesh of the

non-spiny parts

The second type of thorn mimicry, a more

classic case of Batesian mimicry, involves the

pointed, colourful organs like buds, leaves

and fruit of mimitic plant species that mimic

aposematic colourful thorns not found

anywhere else organism

Several plants growing in Israel, Estonia,

Greece, and Japan exhibit possible spider web

mimicry Dense, white trichomes spp are

produced on newly extended stems and leaves

that deter herbivory due to predatory habit or toxicity This may be a case of visual mimicry

or perceptual exploitation Case examples

include the new buds of Onopordum spp from Israel, Carthamus sp from Greece, flower heads of Articum tomentosum from Estonia, a fledgling leaf of Tussilago farfara from Estonia, and new fronds of Osmunda

japonica from Japan

Difficult example for bucket orchid Pollination

The bucket orchid of Central America, is equipped with a small bucket structure behind the flower The flower produces oil which drips into the “bucket” and attracts bees with its unique odour Each bucket orchid species has its own scent, thus each attracts its own species of bee When the male bees smells the perfume, it goes to the orchid to collect an oily substance which he will use to attract females (he is only attracted to one orchid species scent since he wants to attract only female species) However, often as he is collecting his oil, the bee falls into the bucket The only way out is through a tube The bees moves through a tube, getting “tagged” with orchid pollen, so when he visits the next flower he will pollinate it as he passes through its funnel (9-12)

6 Cryptic mimicry

In ecology, crypsis is an organism's ability to avoid detection by other organisms Therefore, cryptic mimicry is a situation where a prey organism deceives a potential predator by providing false signals or a lack

of signals Cryptic mimicry in plants is usually achieved visually

Example

The South American Boquila trifoliata, of the

Lardizabalaceae family, is a climbing vine with a highly variable phenotype It is capable

of mimicking the leaf features of plant species

that it clings to, adopting colour shape and

size By camouflaging its leafy

appendages, Boquila lowers its rate of

herbivory

References

1 Disa pulchra, and its consequences for

pollinator behaviour, Biological 3oumal

ufthe Linnean S o c i e (2000), 71:

119-132

2 Ernesto Gianoli, and Fernando

Carrasco-Urra, (2014), Leaf Mimicry in a

Climbing Plant

3 Gumbefu, A and Kunze, J (2001),

Colour similarity to rewarding model

plants affects pollination in a food

deceptive orchid, Orchis boryi,

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

(2001), 72: 419-433

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesian_m

imicry

5 Johnson, S D (1999), Batesian mimicry

in the non-rewarding orchid

6 Nicolas J Vereecken et al., (2013), A

pollinators’ eye view of a shelter mimicry

system, Annals of Botany 111: 1155–

1165, 2013

7 Paulette Bierzychudek, (2013),

Asclepias, Lantana, and Epidendrum: A Floral Mimicry Complex? Biotropica, Vol 13, No 2, Supplement: Reproductive Botany (Jun., 1981), pp 54-58

8 Protects against Herbivory, Current Biology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10 1016/j.cub.2014.03.010

9 Rod Peakall et al., (2010), Pollinator

specificity, floral odour chemistry and the phylogeny of Australian sexually deceptive Chiloglottis orchids: implications for pollinator-driven speciation, New Phytologist (2010) 188: 437–450

10 Scott McElroy J, (2014), Vavilovian Mimicry: Nikolai Vavilov and His Little-Known Impact on Weed Science, Weed Science, 62(2):207-216 2014

11 Spencer C.H Barret, (1987), Mimicry in plants, Scientific American (Sep 1987) VOL 255 NO.9

12 Stephen D Hopper A, C and Andrew P Brown A revision of Australia s hammer orchids (Drakaea: Orchidaceae), with

some field data on species-specific

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How to cite this article:

Sankari, A., P Loganayki and Anand, M 2019 Mimic Pollination in Ornamental Plants